“This is the record of the family line of Adam. When God created humankind, He made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female; when they were created, He blessed them and named them “humankind”(Genesis 5:1-2). God in His infinite wisdom made “humankind” from one blood or one man (Acts 17:26) in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). Therefore, we, all of humanity, have one Father (Malachi 2:10) Who created one race, the human race (Galatians 3:26). One race. One race. One race. 

Just pause right here for a moment and let that sink in. One race. You don’t seem all that convinced that you should be shouting right now. You’re still thinking, what accounts for all of our many differences – skin color, gender, languages and dialects, our ways of making sense and meaning of the world? How can we all be made in the image of One God but be as different as night is from day? Here, let me explain. 

First of all, being created in God’s image doesn’t mean we’re all the same. That’d be boring. And that’d be untrue as we are all very different (I Corinthians 12:12-27). But think about this. Pastor Ivor Myers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=zpEF8qa4pt4&app=desktop), in a sermon, sought to make sense of what it means to be “made in God’s image.” He directs us to Ezekiel 1:27-28, where God’s appearance is described as that of light. He then makes the analogy of our differences within our oneness to white light. See, light is a prism of color akin to a rainbow. The more technical description is as follows: 

Visible light is a tiny part of the electromagnetic spectrum with many variations of wavelengths. And we see these variations as colors. White light is a combination of all colors in the color spectrum. It has all the colors of the rainbow. Objects appear one color or another because of how they reflect and absorb certain colors of light (https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/physics/see-the-light2/the-color-of-light).

Are you getting it yet? We are one race (the human race) reflecting the many colors and the glory of God! 

Next, God did not distinguishand does not make any distinction between His people based on skin color  (Deuteronomy 10:17-18, Romans 10:12, Acts 10:34). As a matter of fact, the term “race” isn’t even mentioned in the Bible, or at least not in the context of a group of people or skin color. Nor are the terms “Black” and “White” used in the Bible to describe a “race” or a “nation” of people, rather they were used to describe color (Job 30:30, Lamentations 5:10, II Kings 5:27, Numbers 12:10), the absence or presence of light (II Peter 1:19, Matthew 17:2), or an emotional state of being (Job 3:5, Revelation 19:14). 

See, the concept of race as we know it today is not a Biblical concept. “Race as a categorizing term referring to human beings was first used in the English language in the late 16th century and had a generalized meaning similar to other classifying terms such as type, sort, or kind. For example, occasional literature of Shakespeare’s time referred to a “race of saints” or “a race of bishops.” However, by the 18th century, race was widely used for sorting and ranking the peoples in the English colonies—Europeans who saw themselves as free people, Amerindians who had been conquered, and Africans who were being brought in as slave labor (From <https://www.britannica.com/topic/race-human/The-history-of-the-idea-of-race>)”.  The concept of “race” is a man-made construct used to distinguish one group of people from another to justify the oppression of a particular group of people. 

Finally, it was God’s desire from the beginning of time for us to be fruitful and to multiply (Genesis 1:28) and to spread out and fill the earth (Genesis 9:7). And with the filling of the earth came new geographical locations and environments and distinct cultures (Genesis 11:1-9). And over time, these groups became more genetically and geographically isolated and environmentally separated until they took on more distinct physical characteristics, such as varied skin colors or pigmentation. Then, within these genetically isolated and geographically and environmentally-separated groups of people, diverse languages, distinct ways of being, of governing, of worshipping and of living emerged so that the human race became diverse, not just physically, but ethnically and culturally (From <https://let thebiblespeak.tv/one-blood-all-nations-the-text/>). And our wonderful Creator who made the heaven, earth, the sea, and all things in them, allowed all nations to walk in their own ways (Acts 14:15-16). 

 One race (the human race) reflecting the many colors and the glory of God!